And they sat before him: there is no clear connection in the Revised Standard Version rendering between they sat before him and the amazement that the brothers expressed at the seating arrangement. Before him may be understood to mean either “opposite Joseph” or “facing Joseph” (Good News Translation). However, Anchor Bible understands before him to mean “at Joseph’s directions.” In this sense it is Joseph who determines where each man will sit, either by telling them directly or by instructing the steward where to place them. Revised English Bible, which follows Anchor Bible‘s lead, translates “When at his [Joseph’s] direction the brothers were seated … they looked at each other in amazement.” For another version that links the seating arrangement to the brothers’ surprise, see Good News Translation. One example of a translation of this clause is “Joseph had told the servant to mark the chairs where all the brothers must sit when they ate.”

The first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth: Revised Standard Version, which translates the Hebrew literally, may need to be restructured to show that the seating arrangement is by order of age, from the oldest down to the youngest. See Good News Translation. We may also say, for example, “Joseph showed each of the brothers where to sit. He seated them each according to his age, from the oldest to the youngest.” Other possibilities are “He [Joseph] wanted them all to sit following their number of years, starting from the first and going to the youngest”; and “… with the firstborn at one end of the table, and in a line as they were born, to the last-born at the other end.”

And the men looked at one another in amazement: their surprise comes from finding that they are seated in the order they were born. In translation it may be necessary to make clear the reason for their surprise. For a model see Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .